7 tips to Get the Best Tomato Yield

Tomato farming can be immensely lucrative if you know the control parameters from the very beginning. The secret to growing plump, juicy, red tomatoes is to start the plants off right, and mitigate any problems before they happen. Note that tomatoes are one of the most common vegetables that are prone to diseases. Therefore, take into account the following fool-proof tomato growing tips to ensure maximum yield:

Ensure plenty of sunlight: Among the top tips to grow tomatoes is this one! Tomato is a warm season crop and requires at least 6 hours of sun on a daily basis. Therefore, ensure that the site you pick is always blessed with plenty of sunlight.

Avoid seed crowding: Tomato seedlings need plenty of room to branch out. Crowding them will not just inhibit their growth but also result in unforeseen diseases. For tomatoes, two systems of spacing are generally followed, based on the type of crop variety or hybrid, either 60 × 45 cm or 45 × 30 cm. Seed Rate is 160–200 g/ac for varieties and 60–80 g/ac for hybrids.

Clip the “suckers” regularly: Between the tomato plant’s stem and branch often grows another stem that produces new branches along the way. The downside is that these “suckers” don’t produce any fruit and hog all the air and energy of the plant. Clip them on a regular basis to ensure a bountiful harvest.

Keep removing the bottom leaves: Once your plants reach above 3 feet, remove the bottom leaves as they’re the first ones to develop fungus issues. They’re also the oldest, and get lesser and lesser amount of sun and airflow. These also give rise to soil-borne pathogens that can deteriorate the harvest later on.

Water without fail: Tomato crop thrives on loamy, well-drained soil and therefore, water deeply and regularly without skipping. Irregular watering can lead to blossom-end rot and cracking, so, especially during summer season, irrigation every 5–7 days is necessary, whereas in winter, a 10 to 15-day interval is sufficient.

Don’t forget to mulch: Mulching conserves water and prevents the soil from diseases moving up across the plants. For efficient mulching, bring into use black LDPE sheets of 25-micron thickness and bury both the ends into the soil to a depth of 10 cm.